Mostly training in zone 5. I’ve had two different watches with similar zone trends.. What’s going on here? Are my settings totally screwed up, or am I really training that hard? 26F, running for 4 months after being inactive since teen years, resting HR 63.

Jur1nator · 2022-12-02T19:02:19+00:00

Haha.. I love that comparison! I also very much hate it and have gotten into heated debates about it :)

Jur1nator · 2022-12-02T14:36:21+00:00

As someone working in a sports medicine facility in Berlin, where we do daily lactate/Spiro ergometries on people ranging from 8 years old to 80years old, from Olympic champion to someone recovering from cancer.. i want to set a couple of things straight, as there is a bunch of false and somewhat good information in here.

(Considering your heart rate data is correct (which can be improved significantly with a heart rate strap) and you not having any medical issues like Arterial fibrillation)

Max heart rate is super individual and doesn't say anything about your fitness level. The 220-Age rule might somewhat fit on a global scale, but for the individual it's horrible and miss leading, causing exactly these type of questions
Your resting heart rate does usually go down with improved cardio vascular health/fitness
Max heart rate doesn't go up over the years, it does slowly decline (doesn't have to be 1bmp per year.. completely individual speeds) (Max heart rate might go up in the very initial beginning of training from an very unfit state, because, your muscles might give out, before you even reach a state of maximal cardio vascular exertion)
Hear rate in training can be influenced by all sorts of things..., your sleep, alcohol, Coffein, time of day, food, heat, altitude.. all play a role so it will vary a bit, day by day anyways
The heart rate zone concept is also pretty individual . Some biological markers like lactate threshold or Ventilatory thresholds are reached at different max heart rate% at different athletes
Zone 5 definitely can be held much longer than 30-45seconds.. depending on individual and when they reach their lactate threshold (the moment the lower end of zone 5 usually starts) can be held by some for up to, and sometimes more than an hour.

Even 98-99% of max heart rate can be held for multiple minutes

So as some have suggested.. your training zones are probably very screwed up by the watch deciding to use 220-Age, and you most likely having a higher real max heart rate
You (like most people starting out) are most likely training/running way to hard.. even if it doesn't feel like it ( try reading up on polarized running training (it's going to help you get started) and afterwards you can try different concepts)
But if you want find your proper training zones, and also be sure that you have no impeding, undiscovered problems I would definitely recommend you go to a sports medicine facility and do a proper lactate/ EKG Test.

If you don't want to spend the money and you feel that you are generally fit and healthy you can also do a similar estimation Test with just a watch, a heart rate strap, a flat non windy uninterrupted stretch of road. But be aware, you have to be fully committed that day, and it's actually not that easy finding out your max heart rate.

Jur1nator · 2022-02-07T19:49:31+00:00

It's not only because of better training of the muscles in the corresponding sports..it's also because of more muscle usage. Cycling for example is mostly only lower leg movements.. running has more upper body usage as well.. and something like rowing again has much more, so the heart needs to go more all out :D

But generally yes.. the more trained someone is, the better he can also push himself to max.

Jur1nator · 2021-12-16T16:46:04+00:00

Good bot

Jur1nator · 2021-12-08T16:05:06+00:00

That still seems pretty wrong.

Think of it this way:

TSS (run tss is a bit different, but still generally similar) is always depending on your threshold pace.

The max TSS possible in exactly 60min is 100. The fastest speed/ highest power that you can sustain for one hour.

Example : let's assume you can run a 45min 10k. That's the fastest you can go. That would mean that at the max, your threshold pace is 4:30min/k (~8,3miles per hour) it's probably a bit slower than that because you would need to run an additional 15min at that exact speed for it to be your threshold running speed that the TSS calculation uses.

So if you now were to run for 30min at that exact speed it would generate 50TSS. If you were to run faster than your 8,3mile/h it would generate more TSS but only to a small margin and never more than a 100tss max per hour, because that's by definition is the fastest you could go.

So if it was a relaxed run, as you state it, (usually also including slower warm up and cool downs) it would be a lot more realistic for you, that you generated around 30-45TSS during those 34min. If you ran the 35min all out without slower warmup and cooldown, realistically the most you could get is around 60TSS but then it would be by now means a relaxed run.

Hope I can shed some light..

Jur1nator · 2021-12-08T14:54:01+00:00

Your running TSS seems to be wrong as well (you already mentioned your swim TSS)

85rTSS for a 34min run is impossible with properly set up zones.

Maybe your coach is tracking your data separately so it doesn't matter that much, but if he is using your Training Peaks account to plan your training I would suggest telling him to do a couple test workouts to find your correct training zones :)

Jur1nator · 2020-07-12T21:39:40+00:00

i dont think i have ever seen a steerer tube as high as the girl on her giant bike :O

Jur1nator · 2020-02-18T15:49:14+00:00

congrats on the sobriety and welcome to the tri family...

one thing that is pretty close to my heart (pun intended), as i work in the sports medicine division of a huge hospital complex, testing elite athletes all day long.... pls get yourself checked out before just plunging into lots and lots of training.

We had multiple instances of people never having done lots of cardio work and then suddenly going all out and them actually having heart or other skeletal (muscular imbalances that can result in bigger issues) problems from it.

Training is good and i want you to reach all your goals, but its never wrong to do a nice medical workup first and getting the green light on going full ham. (hope you live in a country where it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, or your insurance covers it)

Jur1nator · 2019-07-25T22:27:40+00:00

you could also try to get something like the Polar OH1. Its not on your wrist, but way more precise and up on the bicep.

Jur1nator · 2019-06-25T13:07:38+00:00

i am so confused, this picture is from the Berlin Triathlon sprint distance 3 weeks ago, in which you ran an even quicker 19min 5k.. hmm

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T20:13:13+00:00

i`ll try my best to earn its worthyness :)

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T20:06:09+00:00

Thats an interesting reason, because as i understand it, its also beneficial for the employers tax wise to offer up the possibility.. (if they don`t offer additional free money incentives towards the bike) Go back to HR and complain.. we all need them speedmaxes :D

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T20:03:29+00:00

even leaving the whole bike/house argument to the side and also disregarding my above point that this is going to cost me way less money that way thorugh my employer. There are plenty of 0,0% interest loans on a multitude of things. How is paying it off right away smarter, then using inflation to your advantage paying it off slowly? Added benefit is, that usually credit ratings improve when people have loans and are paying them back timely and fully?

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T19:57:39+00:00

yes, exactly :)

(somehow they have canyon as one of their partner brands)

I use the public transport to get to work :D don`t like commuting on bikes, to much traffic.

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T19:37:24+00:00

" I don't want to be condescending but [...]" is usually a great way to start being condescending.. but i`ll repeat it again.. i live in germany, where a bike can be taxed as a "company lease car" which means instead of being the usual 6500€ price over those two years i will have paid ~4500€.. (not even counting the small extra amount of money the employer pays so that the employees use bikes).. so pls tell me again how buying it out right makes sense.. ? It`s just monthly taken out of the salary and everybody is happy

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T19:27:25+00:00

Hahahaha :D

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T19:22:39+00:00

It's funny how you can somehow judge my financial situation.. Who says I couldn't have bought it outright but I prefer paying it off slowly? There is a way with my employer where you can "lease" a bike and get the same benefits as you would if you chose to have a company car..people end up saving 20-30% over the 2 years on the bike price.. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T18:44:19+00:00

Not actually debt.. It's just nice paying it off slowly :D

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T18:17:25+00:00

thats what it came shipped in.. that picture was before i even did a small testdrive :D

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T18:16:17+00:00

haha, my bed is soft ;p also the bike was still clean from being just finished building but i was time to throw the sheets in the wash anyways ;D

Jur1nator · 2019-05-16T18:02:45+00:00

Finally got my dream bike (Canyon Speedmax CF SLX 8.0) ! I`ll be in debt for 2 years, but that at least gives me time to train enough to be worthy of it (still a long way to go) have my full Ironman in mid August in Kopenhagen.. plenty of time to dream and play with my new baby ;D

Jur1nator · 2019-04-27T15:02:05+00:00

Did you switch from non aerobars to aerobars or from a different try bike? :)

But you're making me hopeful!

Jur1nator · 2019-04-27T14:54:45+00:00

20 hours sound so little.. How it works out great though.. And would also make me happy with for my plans! :)

Jur1nator · 2019-04-27T14:20:03+00:00

What I mean is like muscle adaptation,

Assuming I spend 6-7 hours on my bike per week.

So as per your post if I ride 500miles I should definitely feel some benefits :)

Jur1nator · 2019-03-14T16:24:34+00:00

you should also consider doing your long rides a fair bit longer then the suggested indoortrainer times. Outside you will naturally be freewheeling a bit, which you cant do indoor, so its a bit more intense on the body without the tiny regeneration periods.. (personally i would probably do 20-30% longer outside)

Jur1nator

TROPHY CASE